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CRANFIELD UNIVERSITY Eleni Anthippi Chatzimichali ...

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Figure 1-1 Evolution from molecular biology to systems biology<br />

The line of inquiry represents the way mainstream molecular biology, under the pressure for systemlevel<br />

study, started investigating groups of molecules rather than single macromolecules, while<br />

simultaneously investigated their interactions. The figure has been adapted from Westhoff et al. (2004).<br />

A system-level approach aims to generate novel technologies and effective tools<br />

based on the collection, integration, analysis, graphical visualisation, and ultimately<br />

modelling of biological information (Ideker et al., 2001; Hood, 2003). Mathematical<br />

modelling is the backbone of contemporary systems biology. To this day the term<br />

“mathematical” is usually hidden behind a “computational approach” (Mesarovic et<br />

al., 2005). A model is an effort to represent all the integrated highly heterogeneous<br />

information that derives from multiple experimental sources in an abstract manner.<br />

Current advances in systems biology and computing science are prompting scientists<br />

to use sophisticated mathematical models and powerful in silico simulations. Despite<br />

the continuous acquisition of new information as well as the overwhelming progress<br />

of computational and experimental methods, the high complexity of biological<br />

systems will always constitute an obstacle for the construction of a general, integrated<br />

and functionally meaningful model based on complete understanding (Butcher et al.,<br />

2004; Filkenstein et al., 2004).<br />

2

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